I’ve had my cast iron skillet for years – in fact, I’ve got two of them, one for me and one for Bob. If I didn’t have a cast iron skillet, I’d buy a new one right away because these are, in my opinion, the best cooking device ever.

Yes, I’m a little old-fashioned, but often old-fashioned is better for us than anything new-fangled. For example, all that non-stick cookware is easily scratched and ruined, but the cast iron skillet can be scratched in a thousand ways for a thousand years and it will still be an awesome piece of cooking equipment.

When you first get a piece of cast iron cookware, it needs to be seasoned. When I got my cast iron skillet thirty years or forty years ago (same old skillet I still use) I didn’t know how to season it and I thought it would be complicated. But no, all you need to do is clean it, dry it over a burner on low, then oil it inside and out (corn oil will do), and then pop it into a warm oven, upside down for about an hour before using the first time. Some people do this twice before the first use. New cast iron skillets should come with directions, and some may claim to be pre-seasoned. I would, in that case, be inclined to do it again myself. How could a factory seasoned frying pan be as good as one seasoned at home in the loving atmosphere of my own country kitchen?

This is something I use every day. Every single day! I take it down from it’s hook over the sink and warm it while I get a tortilla out of the refrigerator… then move it aside and warm the tortilla over the open flame of my gas stove. Then the tortilla goes back into the pan, the pan goes over the flame, on low, and I add some sliced sharp cheddar cheese, onions, tomatoes, and hot sauce (or just salsa if I have it around.) If I have them available I’ll add rice and/or refried beans. This is my simplest snack-meal. As old as I am, I don’t require much, and I have no children or family to cook for anymore. Bob usually cooks for himself as he includes seafood, something I won’t touch or cook. Good thing he likes his own cooking! We’re happy this way.

Cleaning this cast iron skillet is easy. I know a lot of people say to leave them greasy and dirty, but pardon me… I really like a clean skillet before I start cooking, so I wash my skillet out with a little bit of Dr. Bronner’s Castile “All One” soap and water, then hang it up. I rarely have trouble with anything sticking to this pan, but if I do, a little scrubber usually takes care of that. I can’t even remember when I might have had to use a steel wool pad on this. I’ll bet it is nearly as non-stick as all that expensive non-stick cookware!

Cast iron skillets need to be thoroughly dried in a way that prevents rusting. Rusting is the one enemy of cast iron cookware. There are several ways to do this. First, there’s the good old fashioned dish cloth method. Wipe it clean. I don’t do that. Second, there’s heat. I have, at times, placed the clean pan back on the stove for a few minutes to let the water be dried and evaporated. Works great. The third way, the way I do it most often these days, is to hang it up or put it in the dish drain to drip dry. I hang mine up over the sink, on a hook in the bottom of my dish cabinet.

About once weekly I re-season the pan with oil over a warm burner, but some people say it is best to do this every time the pan is used. I don’t do it daily, but can testify that my pans are both still in excellent condition after many years of use.

If you have a cast iron skillet, you have a very useful treasure. If not, maybe you’d like to get one? This is cookware that makes sense.